Special cartridge for firing projectiles fitted end-on on firearms



March 23, 1965 J. VILBAJO 3,174,429

SPECIAL CARTRIDGE FOR FIRING PROJECTILES FITTED END-ON ON FIREARMS Filed Feb. 23, 1960 FIG.5

INVENTOR JEAN VILBAJO 3. eiwu' 5- L2? ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,174,429 SPECIAL CARTRIDGE FOR FIRING PROJEQTTLES FITTED END-0N ON FIREARMS Jean Vilbajo, Burcht, Belgium, assignor to ARE R. Aehat, Ventes, Representations, Societe Auo'nyme, Brussels, Belgium Filed Feb. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 10,442 Claims priority, application Belgium, Oct. 23, 1959, Patent 584,080 1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 102-39) In U.S.A. patent application Ser. No. 10,443, filed February 23, 1960, a means has been disclosed for making the firing of a projectile fitted onto the muzzle of a firearm independent of the ballistics of the latter. To this effect, it was recomended to fit the projectile with its own propulsive charge, together with a means for preventing the gases resulting from the firing of this charge to reach the cocking mechanism of aforesaid firearm. It was thus necessary to provide a means for firing this propulsive charge. In order to be acceptable, this means must fulfill certain mandatory conditions of which the following are the main ones:

(a) For priming this charge the firearm must be used in its normal way;

(b) The means in question must have no eliect whatever on the usual handling of the firearm, or on the operation of the latter;

(c) Finally, the means in question must be strictly adapted to the percussion mechanism of the firearm.

The object of the present invention is to provide such means which will answer these various imperatives and will moverover have the marked advantages of extreme simplicity and absolute safety.

This means consists substantially in a special cartridge with a standard case having a bullet shaped plug which is characterized by the fact that it contains an axial bore which goes right through the length of the plug, whereby this bore is used as a container for an ignition charge.

This plug, normally set in the case, is intended to remain attached to the latter, considering that it is only subjected to a reduced longitudinal stress. According to another characteristic of the present invention, the case will generally be empty, considering that the normal detonator will be used to prime the charge contained in the axial bore of the plug and that this charge is in turn intended to ignite the relay fitted at the rear end of the propulsion device carried by the projectile fixed onto the muzzle of the firearm.

In one particular form of embodiment, the case will preferably be of brass and the plug of aluminium, both being duly made to hold fast to each other and the whole being, With respect to shape and size, preferably similar to a normal cartridge.

It follows therefrom, that the handling of this special cartridge, and mainly its introduction into the magazine of the firearm, are absolutely identical to those of ordinary cartridges, so that the riflemen will have no difficulty in that respect. On the other hand, the firearm may either be provided with its normal loaded magazine or not, so that when the projectile fitted to the muzzle of the arm has been fired, normal firing may he proceeded with or resumed. Moreover, normal firing can be discontinued for firing of special projectiles such as winged grenades. All that is needed, is that the rifieman has such special projectile at hand, as Well as the special cartridges conforming to the present invention. It will be particularly noticed that this novel means practically excludes all wrong moves and that the operation of such special cartridges does not require any practice nor special training.

This special cartridge can obviously be adapted to fit "ice any known firearm which is generally used for firing special projectiles.

it is thus merely by way of example and without implying any limitations, that one particular form of embodiment is described in greater detail below, with reference to the appended drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a special cartridge conforming to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section by a plane perpendicular to the axis as represented by the straight line IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded view showing respectively the normal case and the special bullet-shaped plug;

FIGURE 4 shows the upper part of the cartridge with part of a radial section;

FIGURE 5 shows on a larger scale the upper part A of the plug.

This particular form of embodiment thus comprises the absolutely normal case 1 and the special bullet-shaped plug 2. The latter is special in this way that it contains an axial bore 3 terminated by two recesses 4-5. This central bore 3 is filled with a charge 6 of ignition powder, such as black powder for instance. At either end of this charge of powder there is a cap 78 made of small discs of some easily tearable material, such as paper, held by means of a ring 9-10 respectively which is itself held into place by crimping in the corresponding parts 11-12 respectively of the plug. On the outside, the latter has the usual peripheral groove 13 into which the edge 14 of the normal case is set. It will be observed as a particular characteristic, that it is imperative that the inner diameter D of the rings 940 be at least equal to and preferably slightly larger than the diameter of the axial bore 3 which contains the charge of powder 6. This disposition avoids any possibility of creating obstacles to the propagation of the flames resulting from the ignition both of the priming cap in the case i and of the charge 6 in the plug 2.

t is obvious that any other arrangement could be provided for giving rise, in the magazine of the firearm, to a flame capable of being propagated to the powder or the relay of the auto-propulsion device carried by the special projectile.

What 1 claim is:

A cartridge, comprising a hollow cylindrically shaped casing having an opening at one end, primer means carried by said casing at its other end and adapted to be detonated within said casing, an elongated plug firmly fixed to said casing and extending partly therein through said opening, said plug having an intermediate portion of uniform dimension and substantially the same size as the opening in said casing, said plug further having a central bore of uniform diameter extending longitudinally therethrough, ignition powder filling said bore, and cap pieces carried at each end of said plug for maintaining said ignition powder Within said bore, said cap pieces being made of a frangible material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 103,514 Shock May 24, 1870 726,579 Schutte Apr. 28, 1903 965,745 Purcell July 26, 1910 1,438,779 Olin Dec. 12, 1922 1,804,986 Holden et al May 12, 1931 1,899,618 Holthe Feb. 28, 1933 2,398,683 Whitworth et al. Apr. 16, 1946 2,415,803 Abell Feb. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,733 Germany June 21, 1893 

